A conveyor apparatus has heretofore been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,363,735 in which a conveying face is formed by an assembly of roller devices each comprising a boss supported on a frame and a plurality of rollers equidistantly spaced apart along a circle arranged concentrically with the boss and rotatable in a direction at right angles with the direction of rotation of the boss. With such conveyor apparatus, a conveying face of the desired width will not always be obtained simply by varying the number of the roller devices constituting the assembly, since the respective roller devices are of a uniform size.
The primary object of the present invention is to provide a roller device such that a plurality of such roller devices can be fitted together with the rollers of one device positioned between the rollers of another device respectively so that the greatest possible number of rollers will be positioned to define a conveying face as a whole to assure a uniform conveying operation at all times.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a roller device such that when a plurality of the roller devices are assembled, one roller device can be fitted to another in face-to-face or back-to-face relation.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a roller device which can be fitted onto a round or angular shaft so as to be free to rotate on the shaft or to be driven by the shaft.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a roller device which overcomes the problems and deficiencies associated with past conveying and transporting devices related to the transportation of articles from one location to another.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a roller device which is simple and inexpensive of construction and operation and which is capable of being joined with other similar devices in a variety of arrangements to form a conveying face which will permit a uniform and steady transporting operation.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a roller device which is adaptable for use in a variety of conveying and transporting environments and which is capable of combination with other such devices to produce an assembly having utility in transporting and conveying articles of various sizes and weights.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a device of the class indicated which is capable of the functions referred to and which is based upon sound mechanical and engineering principles and which is not complex in structure and is adaptable to combination with similar devices from either the front or the back to produce a variety of assembly arrangements varying greatly in roller density.
Other objects will appear hereinafter.